“Walk with me further into the caves,” Doctor Dave Daniels led King John the Cute deeper into the excavated caves.

“I discovered a set of pictures behind these rocks,” Doctor Dave Daniels pointed at some rocks. He moved them, and underneath, pictures etched unto the stone of the cave were uncovered.

“A hidden story!” exclaimed King John the Cute.

“Indeed. I believe this story was invented and etched into stone by a kid. Look here,” he pointed at the first picture. “This is the first picture, on the right. Here is a person, possibly young, but you can’t be sure. He is holding a very large bird, three times bigger than him. At the time, there were no birds this big anywhere in the world. This is a fantasy tale.”

“I understand,” said the king, who was thankful, for he did not know such things about Earth’s history. “Continue.”

“To the left is the second picture. Here the hero of the story, the person from the first picture, is riding the big bird. I believe he has tamed the wild bird. In fact, I think they have become good friends. This is what usually happens in these kinds of stories.

“In this third picture, the hero is on top of the bird when it is flying. While the bird is flying, the hero is hitting many other people with his stick. The other people were probably some sort of bad guys, and the hero has used his bird to become a sort of hero, even a superhero of the time.

“This, no doubt, was a story of a young adventurer who has tamed a giant bird, learned to ride it, and fought bad guys with the aid of his bird. This must have been the first adventure story ever told by mankind!”

“Fascinating, indeed,” said King John the Cute. “So you believe this is the person Samuel the Brave found near that land’s Death’s Door.”

“No, I do not,” said Doctor Dave Daniels. “I believe the person near that land’s Death’s Door was the hero from the third story I found, the one I will show you next. This second story was not a fairy tale, but just a story. I believe it was invented by one of the children. Perhaps he told it only to himself, perhaps to the other children. But in any case, he drew it here, in a hidden place, like a diary. This was his story, and it was his secret story. The hero, the bird, the bad guys, they were never created in this other world and a tunnel was not formed because the story was never told enough times.”

“Perhaps that is also sad,” the king said thoughtfully. “There must be a reason for the existence of other worlds through stories. Surely you need us as much as we need you. A story that does not come alive in a land of legends is a hope unfulfilled.”

Doctor Dave Daniels thought about the king’s statement. “There is sense in what you say. I have never given the matter thought, but now I shall. But for the meantime, shall I show you the third and last story?”

“Please do, Doctor Dave Daniels.”

This has been the story containing written evidence of a lost adventure story that never became a lost fairy tale.

(To be continued on Sunday…)

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